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| Joseph T. Kirkland, Jr. is an Attorney and Senior Escrow Officer with Tri-State Title & Escrow, Inc. and a former member of the board of the Memphis Investors Group. |
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Your home is typically your most expensive and important investment. A review of the public records may not discover defects in the title to property. Title insurance is a single premium form of insurance that protects a homeowner, for so long as they may have any interest in their home, against matters that may not be discoverable by an examination of title to real property such as:
· False impersonation of the true owner of the property
· Forged deeds, releases or wills
· Undisclosed or missing heirs
· Instruments executed under invalid or expired power of attorney
· Mistakes in recording legal documents
· Misinterpretations of wills
· Deeds by persons of unsound mind
· Tax liens against an owner that may not yet be recorded
· Deeds by minors
· Deeds by persons supposedly single, but in fact married
· Liens for unpaid estate, inheritance, income or gift taxes
· Fraud
· Unposted taxes
Title insurance will protect you against these type of unknown risks and will pay for defending against any lawsuit attacking the title and either clear up the problem or pay the loss to the insured. Tennessee law requires that you be offered owners title insurance at the closing of your home.